FURNITURE SHOWROOMS! Habitat 1964 store, Paris – France » Retail Design Blog FURNITURE SHOWROOMS! Habitat 1964 store, Paris – France January 17th, 2014 by retail design blog It was in 1964 that British designer Terence Conran opened his first Habitat store on London’s Fulham road, introducing a new approach towards design for the home to a wide audience. Only a few years later habitat expanded to France where it has become equally successful with its accessible designs, and now operates 25 stores. And it’s in Paris, almost 50 years later, where Habitat opens up an interesting vintage design and fahion concept on sat – jun 8. called Habitat 1964, it’s located smack in the middle of the St.-Ouen flea market on the northern outskirts of the French capital and occupies a rather vast industrial complex of no less than 25,000 sqm. [269,098 sq.ft.].

Habitat will be the anchor tenant and has teamed up with high-end fashion retailer l’Éclaireur for the launch of this retail project, which initially opens up just a part of the premises. While the first exhibits carefully sourced furniture pieces and homewares from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in a spacious warehouse, the latter occupies a separate building, showcasing apparel items and accessories from its very own contemporary fashion archives, in addition to pieces from merging designers and select design objects. But that’s not all, folks! And when the vintage shopping and browsing starts to take its toll, la Buvette comes to the rescue. Housed in a cutesy white brick building, this café has a fresh, modern setting and serves a range of tasty cakes and beverages. An outdoor terrace is readily available when the sun is out. Please note that this vintage haven is open on weekends and holidays only. THE BLUEBIRD RESTAURANT STORE GARAGES LONDON CLUB SIR TERENCE CONRAN Sir Terence Conran is a designer and entrepreneur whose empire of shops and restaurants includes London's Bluebird restaurant and his eponymous Conran Shop.

Conran's career is based on a belief, demonstrated particularly with the setting up of Habitat in the sixties, of the importance of good affordable design in everyday life. Fond of quoting William Morris's dictum: "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." He is the recipient of many design awards. Sir Terence has exerted a powerful influence over the way we prepare and eat our food at home, and the way we eat in public for over 40 years. His first effort at selling food to the masses was the famous Soup Kitchen of the 1950s which was inspired, like much of his work, by French farmhouse cooking. His later mass design and retailing experiments at Habitat changed the way we viewed our kitchens and ushered in the opportunity to use well-designed, affordable and good-looking utensils. His massive restaurants of the 1990s saw a new revolution in eating out: but while some feel that Conran has democratised eating out, others complain that the popularity of his food has overpowered good traditional fare and that he has inspired a generation obsessed with style over substance.

Sir Terence Conran was born in Esher 4 October 1931 and from an early age he made things, constructing model ships and yachts in a little woodworking shop. Owing to a childhood illness he spent six months away from school, passing the time making doll's house furniture. He met Don Potter his pottery teacher and pupil of Eric Gill, while he was at boarding school in Bryanston and would stay up all night and drink beer with him whilst firing up the kiln. Sir Terence studied Textile Design at Central School of Arts and Crafts London where he was inspired by Bauhaus' intelligent design. He would often walk around London at night peering in through peoples' windows and decrying the repetitive style of living. This and his love of Bauhaus helped shape his plain, simple, useful style of design. In 1951 he worked with on projects for the Festival of Britain with Dennis Lennon. The following year he set up a furniture making business in Notting Hill, delivering furniture by the Tube.

After falling in love with French food whilst on holiday in the country he set about opening his own restaurant, The Soup Kitchen, in 1953, which had the distinction of having the second espresso machine in the capital. He sold the business a few years later but didn't rest on his laurels setting up the Conan Design Group and opening the first open air restaurant, The Orrery in King's Road. As part of the regeneration of Butlers' Wharf he opened the Blue Print Cafï¿½ on the first floor of the building that now houses the Design Museum. Then in 1964, after becoming disillusioned with retailers who refused to buy his furniture or to sell it with any confidence or imagination, he opened the first Habitat store, in Fulham Road. Mary Quant designed the staff's outfits and bought whole table settings of linen, crockery and glassware for her dinner parties. His charitable Conran Foundation set up the Boilerhouse Project, a gallery and resource for students, designers and the public to stimulate design awareness and discussion, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. CHRONOLOGY 1952 - Terence set up his own furniture-making business, which started in a basement studio in London's Notting Hill.

1956 - The Conran Design Group was founded, initially as an ancillary business to the furniture-making group. Over the next 35 years, it grew to be one of the largest design consultancies in Europe. 1964 - Terence's career in retailing began in 1964 when he opened the first Habitat on Fulham Road. Habitat was the first shop to identify its products and its image as part of a wider ethos. 1973 - With 18 branches of Habitat open in the UK and plans for the first Habitat abroad (in France), Terence opened The Conran Shop at 77 Fulham Road, the site of the original Habitat. The first French Habitat. Tour Montparnasse, 1974 - Terence Conran's The House Book was published with huge success. The book began as an in-house training manual for Habitat staff, but quickly grew to become a complete guide to planning and designing the home. 1983 - Habitat/Mothercare embarked on a joint publishing venture with Octopus Books under the name Conran Octopus.

The company produces books about interior design, cookery, gardening, crafts and decorative arts, broadly reflecting Terence's design philosophy and style. Terence Conran was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honours. 1986 - Habitat and Mothercare merged with British Home Stores to create a new parent company, Storehouse PLC, of which Terence became Chairman and Chief Executive. 1989 - As part of the regeneration of Butlers Wharf, on the south bank of the Thames, Terence launched the Blue Print Cafï¿½ on the first floor of the building that houses the Design Museum. The Museum was the first in the world to be dedicated to the promotion and examination of design. Terence Conran retires from Storehouse and Habitat is sold. Upon his retirement from Storehouse, he bought back The Conran Shop. 1992 - Since then a number of Conran shops have been opened all over the world from Paris in October to the most recent in New York in 1999.

From one of the earliest such as Le Pont de la Tour, which opened in 1991, through to the late 1990s opening of Coq d'Argent, the 90s saw the opening of more than a dozen Conran restaurants, not only in England, but also in Paris and Stockholm. 1993 - Terence formed a new design consultancy, CD Partnership, by the amalgamation of Conran Roche with a team of interior designers. 1997 - Terence opened the BLUEBIRD RESTAURANT, 350 Kings Road, SW3 5UU The Bluebird Restaurant has a skylit roof running its length. The sleek, contemporary design compliments the steel frame that suspends the restaurant on the first floor overlooking the famous Kings Road. Seating up to 190 people at any one time, the restaurant can accommodate large or small group reservations. Bluebird restaurant serves modern European cuisine and specialises in seafood, some of which is prepared from the crustacea bar.

E: enquiries@bluebird-store.co.uk 1999 - Early December saw the opening of The Terence Conran Shop in New York as part of the Bridgemarket redevelopment under the 59th Street Bridge.1999 CD Partnership changes its name to Conran & Partners. 2000 - Guastavino's and Club Guastavino opened as part of the group's presence in the renovated Bridgemarket development in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Great Eastern Hotel opened, a joint venture between Conran and Wyndham International. Following the success of the current restaurants in London, Zic Bar & Grill opens in Manchester. 2001 - Conran Restaurants opens a Zinc Bar & Grill in both Birmingham and Edinburgh. Terrence Conran Q&A is published to celebrate his 70th birthday. Almeida restuarant and bar opens, bringing delicious, robust French food to Islington. 2002 - A new Conran Shop opens in Marunouchi, Japan, reflecting the same passion for elegance, modern furniture and home accessories as the London stores. Senso restaurant opens in Paris.

Zinc Bar & Grill opens is Fulham 2003 - Future projects include two new restaurants in London: The Royal Exchange building and Canary Wharf. Also, Zinc Bar & Grill opens in Glasgow. 100 % norske i London Midt pï¿½ supertrendy Hoxton Square gir Norge sitt elegante bidrag til Londons internasjonale designuke. - Renhet, integritet og ï¿½rlighet beskriver det jeg ser her, sa den britiske designerguruen Sir Terence Conran da han ï¿½pnet 100% Norway. Det er ikke hvem som helst som fï¿½r legenden Terence Conran til ï¿½ kaste glans. Briten regnes som en av verdens stï¿½rste nï¿½levende designere, og har skrevet en rekke bï¿½ker om design. I tillegg eier han en kjede av mï¿½belforretninger og restauranter. Det er ingen tilfeldighet at Conran identifiserer seg med norsk design.

Han hentet selv mye inspirasjon fra Skandinavia pï¿½ 1950- og 60-tallet. Akkurat nï¿½ fï¿½ler jeg at det er en innovativ holdning i Skandinavia, og spesielt Norge, sa Conran til Aftenposten etter ï¿½pningen. Jeg ser en renhet i uttrykket, en antikynisk holdning. Jeg kan ï¿½yeblikkelig se at dette er norsk, og jeg har et godt nok trenet ï¿½ye til ï¿½ se forskjellene pï¿½ svensk, norsk og dansk design. Den skandinaviske flyten er viktig, den generelle kraften i det dere gjï¿½r. CONRAN HOLDINGS Conran Holdings is the parent company of the Conran group, the principal activities of which are architecture and design, and the operation of restaurants, shops and hotels in Europe, the USA and Japan. CONRAN RESTAURANTS Founded by Terence Conran in 1991, Conran Restaurants Ltd is one of Britain's most dynamic restaurant groups.

There are currently 30 restaurants established throughout the UK, London, Paris, Stockholm and New York. THE CONRAN SHOP Since opening in 1973 at 77 Fulham Road The Conran Shop has grown to ten international stores located in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo and Fukuoka. The Conran Shop represents a vast selection of all different types of homeware products, traditional as well as contemporary. CONRAN and PARTNERS Conran & Partners is a multi-disciplinary architecture and design practice offering expertise in the fields of master planning, architecture, interior design, product design and graphic design. If you require further information and detail on any of the Conran businesses, please contact the relevant people: Terence Conran Ltd: BLUEBIRD GARAGE HERITAGE Bluebird Garage, at 330-350 King's Road, Chelsea, London, is a Grade II listed building that is now a noted Conran restaurant and retail space, but which had its origins as a noted Art Deco garage complex built for the Bluebird Motor Company, which had connections with Sir Malcolm Campbell.

The garage was built for the Bluebird Motor Company in 1923, designed to the very latest style by the architect Robert Sharp. At the time of its completion the garages were claimed to be the largest in Europe. At 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2), there was room for 300 cars in the main garage, a further 7,000 sq ft (650 m2) was given over to workshops. On either side of the garage two further buildings contained lounges and writing rooms. The lounges were segregated for ladies, owners and chauffeurs. The land speed record breaker Malcolm Campbell was connected with the Bluebird garage, initially holding the franchise for Itala and Ballot cars. He raced both of these marques, using this hobby as a form of advertising. In 1925 he also became the agent for the newly founded Chrysler company. As a racing driver he was less than impressed with Chrysler and imposed upon his long-suffering mechanic Leo Villa to wring just enough speed out of it to put up an impressive show at Brooklands . One of Campbell's maxims was, "Never trade with your own money.

Always use that of others", which he demonstrated when the Bluebird garage folded in 1927. The shareholders (of whom Campbell wasn't one) lost their whole investment. He repeated this with another garage at St. James's in the 1930s, again losing none of his own money whilst the backers lost ï¿½25,000. His own racing garage at Brooklands, the 'Campbell Shed' paid for from his own pocket, was more successful. In later years the building was used as an ambulance station. RECENT HISTORY The garage area was occupied by the Sainsbury's supermarket chain as an experimental 'concept' shop. Sainsbury's withdrew from the space which made way for 'the shop at bluebird', a high-end clothes, furniture and book shop. Habitat finds a new home | The Times Habitat finds a new home Last updated at 12:01AM, June 22 2012 The iconic British brand is moving to Homebase but what will that mean for its distinctive style? Habitat is back — but not as we once knew it.

Next month, and for the first time, you will be able to buy products from the designer furniture company in Homebase stores. This is the fourth incarnation of Sir Terence Conran’s creation since the entrepreneur opened his first Habitat on Fulham Road in 1964. The brand is credited with leading a style revolution in British homes during the 1960s. Conran’s furniture chain introduced the baby-boomer generation to contemporary interior design. It brought modern homewares from around the world to the mass British market, introducing iconic products such as the duvet, Subscribe now To see the full article you need to subscribe Subscribe Login 1/7 The young Terence — from 1983, Sir Terence — Conran in his London shop during the early days of Habitat June 22 2012 The young Terence — from 1983, Sir Terence — Conran in his London shop during the early days of Habitat June 22 2012 This large tapered lampshade is by Noriko Takemori, a Japanese designer.

The fresh flower pattern is offset by the crawling insects, giving it a darker edge, £25 June 22 2012 The Lansbury solid ash tripod floor lamp has been updated for the new range. Its coral “socks” are reminiscent of croquet mallets, £85 June 22 2012 A lovely handmade vase from Portugal with a white exterior featuring a tribal-style graphic scratch effect that contrasts with the ember glow of the terracotta colour inside, £28 June 22 2012 A bedspread to make you think of holidays in the Med. It is reversible, has a delicate hand-stiched quilting and it covers a large double bed, £150 June 22 2012 Want to inject neon pink and yellow into your home without it overpowering everything? This grid-designed rug, made from 100 per cent wool, should do the trick £350 June 22 2012 This shade — called Marteau meaning “hammer” in French — is modern but also evokes traditional Indian handicrafts.

Each pendant is hand-beaten from solid brass in India, £140 June 22 2012 Terence Conran - Design Museum Terence Conran Posted September 11, 2014 -- Updated March 14 Sir Terence Conran has demonstrated design as an organised businesslike activity, and one that could earn its place at the centre of national debate. Share Terence Conran Sir Terence Conran has had more impact than any other designer of his generation on everyday life in contemporary Britain though a series of parallel careers. Conran describes the private boarding school he attended as an ‘inspired’ choice by his mother, because it particularly encouraged creativity in its pupils and balanced academic study with practical, physical activities like digging the vegetable garden and rudimentary plumbing. Later, at the Central School of Art and Design in London, Conran absorbed the Bauhaus and Arts & Crafts influenced beliefs that ‘a good design should be available to the whole community, not just to a few.’ After Central he set up as an independent designer at the age of 21.

Through his friendship with the sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi he was on the fringes of the Independent Group, the artistic avant garde of the 1950s that brought Pop Art to Britain and worked on the Festival of Britain. But he was driven to establish his own shop, as he once said, to prove to people that his designs could find a market even if nobody else wanted to sell them. He was the founder of Habitat, the furniture company that he grew from a single, very high profile outlet in London, to a national and then international chain. Habitat took Britain out of the gloom of post war austerity into a vision of what the domestic world could be like. It was a very particular version of modernism, based on simple forms, natural materials, and a fresh colour palette. It was a humanised, British version of Bauhaus. Indeed at one time the Conran Design Group used the platonic sphere, cube and cone of the Bauhaus as its logo. But after the post war equation in the British mind of modernism with war time utility designs and deprivation, it was an important commercial success, and showed that design could be glamorous.

Habitat sold not only Conran’s own furniture designs, but products sourced from Europe and inspired by ‘triggers’ of traditional domestic utility and continental sensuality: ‘the markets, the roadside cafes, the simple, unpretentious but abundant displays, the delicious food washed down with carafes of rough red wine.’ By offering small, casual purchases alongside large furniture items Conran aimed at ‘that irresistible feeling of plenty you find on market stalls’ and set in motion a revolution in home styling whose effects are still felt. By naming ‘essential’ items and tools for the kitchen and home Conran celebrated the aesthetics of utility and connected the home to the exciting post-war tenor of industry and progress. Habitat was the springboard for Conran’s expansion into the retail mainstream. As the founder of the Storehouse Group he acquired the Heals furniture business, set up Next, the high street fashion chain, and ran British Home Stores and Mothercare. This business ambition came to an end after several years of management and shareholder acrimony but the dream of introducing intelligently-designed products to the mass market had a brief, palpable effect on the high street.

Terence continues to be involved in retail with The Conran Shop, with eight stores located in London, Paris, New York and across Japan. At the same time the Conran design consultancy was in the vanguard of the professionalisation of design in Britain, specialising in interiors, product design and graphics, and even establishing an architectural practice with Fred Lloyd Roche. Conran then embarked on an entirely new career in the restaurant business, with an impact as profound on what Britain’s ever-expanding middle classes ate, as Habitat had on what they sat on and the utensils they used. His first restaurant, with Ivan Storey, The Soup Kitchen, opened in London in 1953 and his most recent, Skylon, opened at the Royal Festival Hall in London in 2007; and the restaurant empire extends to Guastavino’s in New York, Custom House in Copenhagen and Botanic in Tokyo. Alcazar, which opened in Paris in 1998, represents a resolution of Conran’s admiration and passion for French food and style. In 2006, D&D London acquired a 49% stake in the restaurant business, but Conran continues to be involved with it.

In late 2008 he opened the Boundary in Shoreditch – a restaurant, rooftop bar and grill, café, bakery and foodstore with 17 individually designed bedrooms. Conran showed how design could become an organised businesslike activity, and one that could earn its place at the centre of national debate. He broke the mold of the ‘paternalistic, elitist’ character of British design before and after the War, and was reproached by the Society of Industrial Artists in the mid-1950s for promotional activities which were regarded as unacceptably competitive. The success of his enterprises have hugely influenced the British government’s ability to recognise the economic value of design. In spite of the international flush of Modernism after the War, Conran calculates that ‘it has taken a good half-century for Britain to begin to accept modernity.’ Fuelled by his own passion for the modern movement and its benefit to society, Conran was instrumental in establishing the Design Museum in London. With the advice of Sir Paul Reilly, the long serving director of the Council of Industrial Design, he negotiated an agreement with the Victoria and Albert Museum to establish the Boilerhouse project in the museum’s basement in 1982.

Under its inaugural Director, Stephen Bayley, the Boilerhouse put design on the cultural landscape in Britain in a way that it had not been for many years. When the Boilerhouse outgrew the V&A’s basement, it was Conran’s support that permitted its metamorphosis into the Design Museum in its present Shad Thames site. Q+A How has design shaped the many varied avenues of your career? Design Museum I’ve spent a colourful lifetime working in design and everything related to it, because design is where all the things I have worked on meet. The restaurants, hotels and bars we have designed or operated, the shops, the interiors, the buildings, the products and furniture or the books I have written – design is the one thing that connects them all and they add up to what I call a style of life. I also realise how lucky I have been in that everything I have ever done for work or business I would have done simply for pleasure. Terence Conran When did your passion for design begin? Design Museum My mother was a terrific influence on Priscilla and I from a very early age. She always encouraged us to express ourselves and provided us with the means to do so.

Even as a small child I enjoyed making things and my favourite present was a bag of wooden off cuts and a box of tools. I also had an entrepreneurial spirit from an early age – I remember exchanging a wooden battleship I had made for a potters lathe and being extremely proud of myself with my side of the deal. Terence Conran Would you say that growing up during the Second World War has underpinned your design style and work philosophy? Design Museum I think growing up in the Second World War had a profound effect on every child growing up on that time. I wouldn’t say the war underpinned my design philosophy but it certainly instilled a sense of “make do and mend.” As children we were thrown onto our own resources very early and I think that gave me the fierce determination to succeed and to make the most of having very little. Leaving London to escape the Blitz also meant that I grew up in a very beautiful part of the countryside, a setting that first inspired my very first passions for native wild flowers, butterflies and moths – perhaps you could call them the first seeds of my creativity. Terence Conran What other experiences have influenced your style and philosophy?

Design Museum One of the great turning points in my life was a trip to France in 1953 I took with Michael Wickham. We drove south in his old Lagonda through the Dordogne and it was the first time I had been abroad. Coming from a very grey, post war London I was amazed by the quality of everyday French life - the delicious food in roadside cafes that was washed down with carafes of rough red wine, generously thrown in for free, and the simple, unpretentious but abundant displays on market stalls and shops. I thought, “Why couldn’t we enjoy a life like that back in England?” I suppose I have been trying to capture something of those qualities ever since, although I’ve yet to open a restaurant or bar where we can throw in the red wine for free! Terence Conran What led you to work in furniture design and manufacture? Design Museum I’d discussed my options with my parents and tutor at school – with my interest in organic chemistry, colour and pattern making, a course in textile design and printing seemed a very natural choice to make.

But I was always interested in making all kinds of things from an early age and my tutor at the Central School was quick to grasp that I perhaps had more interest in furniture design. It seems to me that the foundation year at any design school is an ideal way of allowing students to experiment with different disciplines and it is no surprise just how many change direction during this year, rather like I did. As it turns out, before finishing the course I was offered a job, which I was encouraged to take as they were so rare in those days. Terence Conran You once said in an interview that you opened your own shop because nobody could sell your furniture better than you. Do you think that the way your products were sold, were as important as the actual designs? Design Museum In the early sixties I had had a modicum of success selling contract furniture to commercial users but what I hadn’t realised at that time was that the product itself was not enough. I produced a range of modern flat pack furniture called Summa and we needed staff and retailers to demonstrate our enthusiasm for the designs but they didn’t. Our products looked out of place in their quite dreary shops and showrooms.

We were young and hungry for success but the retailers could not see the world was changing and were too lazy and complacent to seize the opportunity – our products didn’t stand a chance of selling in that environment. I felt there was an opportunity for a revolution in the way things were sold, to create something that was more than just a shop selling furniture. And so began my Habitat experiment – partly out of frustration, but also out of a conviction that a better style of life should be more widely available. Terence Conran It has been said that you ‘democratised luxury’ - making it readily available on the High Street. Did you see Habitat as a shop on a mission? Design Museum People like Mary Quant, myself and other young designers were just incredibly frustrated that our ideas – ideas that we passionately believed would work – were not being taken up by the “powers that be.” So we opened our own shops and did our own thing. It is amazing how Mary’s one little shop made such an inspiring difference. The secret of Habitat’s early success was that it sold quite a lot of affordable but iconic products alongside the furniture – everything from paper lanterns to chopping boards. People quickly realized that by buying a few of them you could completely refresh your home.

Terence Conran Having worked in businesses over a long period, what would you say are the differences between starting a business in the 1950’s, 80’s and the present day? Design Museum There are tremendous differences – when I first started out in the 1950s we lived in a grey and damaged land and had to literally fight for our belief that there was a better way of life available to people. Nowadays, we live in a world of opportunities and in a technological age that allows instant communication with practically any country in the world. The market is certainly more competitive too, but any entrepreneur or businessman who backs themselves to be successful would welcome that. Despite the many differences, the qualities for success in business have always remained the same - intelligence, imagination, creativity, common sense, perseverance, market awareness, determination, sensitivity and above all, a thick skin of self confidence are as important now as they were when I was first starting out, although I do have the benefit of a large dollop of hindsight. Terence Conran What have been the most memorable achievements of your career?

Design Museum Making a success of Habitat was perhaps my biggest achievement and I can honestly say the day I opened Michelin House was the happiest day of my life. The site of the first Habitat store was just over the road from the building and over the years I had fallen in love with the quirky Art Deco architecture of the Michelin Building. I dreamt about transforming it into a wonderful shop and – of course – a first class restaurant and to this day we still have The Conran Shop and Bibendum there. However, founding the Design Museum was perhaps my favourite project and the one that has given me most satisfaction. I have always been a great supporter of education in design and passionately believe that good design is of fundamental importance to our quality of everyday life. Terence Conran What events led to you founding the Design Museum? Design Museum As a student I spent a great deal of time in museums and always felt that while the history of design in the decorative arts and in all types of scientific engineering was extremely well covered, there was a pressing need to create something more contemporary. I felt we were a country that only cared about its glorious past but uninterested in our present and future.

So when I first had some serious money in my pocket, I began to dream of creating something special. We may be celebrated all over the world for our creativity and innovation but our future will always be inextricably tied in to the quality of education. Now, more than ever before, creativity and innovation is vital to the world and we need our young talent to paint, draw, design and write a better future. Terence Conran The Way We Live Now was an exhibition at the Design Museum to celebrate your 80th birthday and traces your career from the Festival of Britain to modern times. How do you feel about it and has anything come as a surprise? Design Museum I was slightly unsure about the exhibition at first. I felt it sounded a bit egotistical and I certainly don’t want to shout from the rooftops about turning 80 – especially as I don’t really feel that old and have so much left I want to do. So I do hope the exhibition comes across as forward looking and ambitious about the future. That said, some of the early furniture I designed that the team have managed to find has has been personally very emotional for me, especially as much of it has been so well looked after.

I haven’t really kept much of an archive and as a young, impoverished designer if somebody wanted to buy something from me I would snap their hands off. Paying the gas bill at the end of the month was my first objective and the idea of keeping something to display in future years was not something I contemplated. So I haven’t seen much of my work from this time for over fifty years and I hope people find them as interesting as I do. Terence Conran Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions or plans for the future? Design Museum Oh yes, plenty – and I hope I always will have unfulfilled ambitions and plans for the future until the day I die. Unfinished business is what keeps me feeling young, alive, creative and determined. Terence Conran In just three or four words: What would you say are the hallmarks of good design? Design Museum Simplicity, beauty, functionality and surprise. Terence Conran Born in Kingston upon Thames 1948 Enrolled in Central School of Arts & Crafts 1949 Started workshop in Eastend with Eduardo Paolozzi making furniture 1950 On the advice of his tutor leaves course at Central to work for architect Dennis Lennon.

In the evenings he works on a window display in Simpsons, Piccadilly 1952 Opens Conran & Company from a basement in Notting Hill, selling furniture from a basement showroom in Piccadilly Arcade 1953 Opens Soup Kitchen in Chandos Place, inspired by the elegant simplicity of affordable restaurants in France at the time.

It housed the second Gaggia machine in London 1954 Opens Orrery on Kings Road 1955 Started Conran Fabrics 1956 Set up Conran Design Group, designing among other things a store design for Mary Quant in Knightsbridge 1963 Moved his operations to 40,000 square foot factory in Thetford, Norfolk, taking 80 families with him 1964 Habitat retail store opens in Chelsea with staff in uniforms by Mary Quant and hair styled by Vidal Sassoon 1965 Habitat opens second branch on Tottenham Court Road 1966 Habitat opens further branches in Manchester, Brighton and Glasgow 1968 Merges company to form Ryman Conran 1970 Neal Street Restaurant opens, which until it’s recent closure was run by Terence’s sister Priscilla and her husband, Antonio Carluccio.

Conran Associates replaces Conran Design Group 1973 Habitat’s largest branch opens on Kings’ Road and first branch of Conran shop opens on site of original Habitat store 1974 Publication of House Book by Mitchell Beazley, the forerunner to Habitat Catalogue 1976 Opens Habitat shop in Citicorp building in Manhattan under the name Conran 1980 Conran Foundation set up, dedicated to educating the public and British industry on the values of industrial design. Habitat becomes a public company. 1981 Boilerhouse (the initial incarnation of the Design Museum) opens at the V&A. As Chairman of Hepworths, uses his position on the board of a menswear chain to develop Next. Buys 11 acre site at Butlers wharf for redevelopment 1982 Purchased Mothercare; launch of Habitat Basics so popular in Japan that Seibu (the department store that franchised the line) developed the ‘no brand’ formula to create Muji.

1983 Receives his knighthood from Buckingham Palace to become Sir Terence Conran 1985 Conran Octopus created with Paul Hamlyn to produce educational but inspiring books about interiors, gardening and cookery 1986 Boilerhouse closes at V&A to begin renovation of Southbank site; Habitat-Mothercare merges with British Home Stores and rebranding begins to become BhS. Benchmark furniture-making company set up in the grounds of his home in Berkshire. 1987 Buys the Michelin Building in Fulham Road and refurbishes it to become home for the Conran Shop, Octopus publishing and Bibendum restaurant 1989 Design Museum opens at Butlers Wharf 1990 Retires from Storehouse, sets up Conran Holdings from an apartment in Shad Thames, Butlers Wharf 1991 Conran Restaurants set up. Design company Conran Roche becomes CD partnership. 1994 Habitat at 50: a new way of living | Culture | The Guardian The Observer Habitat at 50: a new way of living It is 50 years since Terence Conran opened the first Habitat – and changed the way we saw our homes for ever.

John-Michael O'Sullivan looks back Inside story: fledgling designer Terence Conran in 1956, aged 24. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images The Observer Habitat at 50: a new way of living It is 50 years since Terence Conran opened the first Habitat – and changed the way we saw our homes for ever. John-Michael O'Sullivan looks back John-Michael O'Sullivan Saturday 3 May 2014 19.05 EDT First published on Saturday 3 May 2014 19.05 EDT Share on Messenger Close On 11 May 1964, at 9.30am, a tall oak door opened on the corner of Sloane Avenue and the Fulham Road. The shop inside would become a landmark in the history of the British home – Habitat would revolutionise a generation's way of living. Fifty years later, Kate Currie – who managed the shop with Sonja Jarman – still fizzes with enthusiasm: "It was amazing! Everyone says Fulham Road was rundown then, but to me it always had tremendous style.

There were lots of boutiques and you were close to the King's Road, where everything was happening. And suddenly you had Habitat, this new shop with atmosphere and life and music. At Woollands [the shop where Currie had previously run a pioneering modern furniture floor] we'd never had music, but Terence insisted on it!" Terence, of course, was the then-entrepreneurial 32-year-old furniture-maker Terence Conran, a well-known figure on the London design scene who'd become frustrated with the stagnant state of furniture retailing. Writer Caroline Macdonald-Haig traces the roots of that frustration back to the 1940s: "After the war people needed to feel domestic and safe in their homes; they weren't ready for something new. The Festival of Britain in 1951 was an incredible moment for design, and Terence and his contemporaries must have felt they were about to change the world, but they quickly found they couldn't." Britain needed another 10 years of postwar recovery before conditions were right for real change.

By then rationing was a fading memory and Britain's baby-boom generation was exploring its new affluence – the average weekly wage had doubled in the space of a decade. Habitat's 1964 launch was timed to perfection. Suddenly there was a place where shopping for homeware was as pleasurable as shopping for clothes at Biba and Bazaar. The faces of Swinging London all came to buy. The clientele ranged from Lord Snowdon and Anouk Aimée to Pattie Boyd and George Harrison (whom Currie remembers debating rugs with in the basement – "The whole marriage thing seemed too much for him, poor dear"). And anyone who couldn't afford Habitat's genre-hopping mix of Le Corbusier chairs, Afghan rugs, beanbags and bentwood rockers went to pick up something small and impulsive from the basement, like a £3 Brown Betty teapot. Through the ages: the winter supplement, 1971.

Photograph: courtesy of Habitat Managing director Pagan Taylor, a top 1950s model, acted as the shop's public face, bringing a dash of well-connected glamour to the enterprise (as well as giving it its name, which she plucked from Roget's Thesaurus). Behind the scenes, the fledgling business could be chaotic. "We were always on the phone apologising to someone," Currie sighs. In the 1990s, Taylor tersely summed up the experience as being "like a hard fall from a galloping horse". She left after just six months – and Currie and Jarman soon followed. But by then it was already clear that Habitat was all about one man – and the Guardian's design correspondent Fiona MacCarthy neatly summed up his disciples: "These are Conran people. Or at least imitation Conran. They buy their lives from Habitat." By 1974 the Fulham Road store had been converted to the upmarket Conran Shop – while simplified, affordable Habitats mushroomed across the country and beyond, everywhere from New York and Toronto to Paris. It filtered into popular culture.

The pages of such books as Jilly Cooper's Octavia and Malcolm Bradbury's The History Man are littered with Habitat products. A Habitat bathrobe ("like Pandora's dad's") made it on to Adrian Mole's Christmas list the same year the company's shares floated on the stock exchange. "Terence wanted Habitat to be popular," Stafford Cliff – who worked with Conran from the 1960s onwards – recalls. "He wanted everyone to have a chicken brick. That's where the catalogue came from." In Habitat-by-Post catalogues (published annually every summer from 1969, with an additional Christmas supplement) Britain was shown more than furniture: they depicted what living itself should – and could – be like. Readers were introduced to the notion of homes as relaxed, informal places alive with activity and individual identity. In the years that followed, the catalogue would become a well-loved household staple, with the initial 30,000 print run increasing to 150,000 in a decade. It launched now-familiar products, such as the beanbag and the wok.

Some would be instant successes; others, such as the duvet, would be more longer-term victories (Conran later claimed his popularisation "revolutionised the sex life of Europe"). "We thought: 'Who is this purchase for; what is their life like?'" says Cliff. "And we created environments that felt inhabited by real people. It was about how I was living, and how the people I knew were living." Arguably it was the confidently seductive world that Conran and Cliff depicted in those catalogues – and in bestselling publications such as The House Book – that made Habitat's impact deeper than the reach of its individual shops. New lines: classic chair designs from the catalogue. Photograph: courtesy of Habitat It's an easy conclusion to say that Habitat lost its way in recent years as you leaf through the catalogues and watch its aesthetic twists and turns – from pop plastics to earthy romance in the 1970s, matchy pastels to sleek metallics in the 1980s and to exoticism in the 1990s. It is perhaps more accurate to say that, after decades of growing up alongside it, Britain simply outgrew it.

Modern retail's history is littered with brands that epitomised the zeitgeist (Biba, Laura Ashley, French Connection) and then struggled to move on. In 2011 Habitat – or what was left of it – was taken over by the Home Retail Group, and currently has just three UK stores, all in London. MD Claire Askem and creative director Polly Dickens grew up in the Habitat era, and they're slowly rebuilding. There are Habitat concessions in the parent company's Homebase stores, and to mark the 50th anniversary, this autumn brings the launch of a range of products created by designers from Habitat's history including Tord Boontje , Simon Pengelly and Claire Norcross . But neither Askem nor Dickens seems interested in chasing yesterday's glories. Habitat sprang from a unique moment in the history of popular design. Its pick-and-mix vision was an easy sell to a generation that thought it was ridding itself of the past. It was postmodernism before anyone had thought to give it a name. In 1968 the BBC summed Habitat up as "a sort of taste supermarket… Conran's package is like an urban dream of farmhouse living.

He sells people the present by reinterpreting the past." (Conran himself was unapologetic about his reputation – "What's a plagiarist?" a friend's daughter once asked. "I am," was Conran's prompt reply.) It's hard to think of any other homeware retailer that's had comparable impact. It wouldn't be until Ikea's arrival in the late 1980s that a challenger would finally arrive – but by then Habitat's place in British consciousness was secure. What comes next we'll have to wait and see. Polly Dickens shrugs, with pride and just a little defiance, as she surveys a studio filled with young designers: "Habitat was always about the now." Terence Conran has been changing British homes and palates since the 1950s. Now 80, the man who sold us lifestyle looks back at his achievements with Rowan Moore Published: 5 Nov 2011 Hampshire Society June Interiors Terence Conranâs latest venture Terence Conranâs name has always been synonymous with excellent design.

Jayne Stamp finds out about his new venture Driven by a desire for good design Terence Conran has, over the last forty years, had a massive impact on the way we live our lives. His unique influence is set to create another change on the way we live our lives. Conranâs latest project is a range of furniture succinctly named âContentâ. The drive behind this range is to bring well designed, affordable furniture to the high street. During his career Conran has built an international collection of shops and restaurants but has never lost his passion for straightforward design. Among his many interests, Terence is an experienced furniture designer and maker. After studying textile design the 1950s, Terence set up his first furniture workshop in West London. In 1964, disillusioned by retailers who were unable to display his furniture properly, Terence opened a shop that would show his furniture in the correct context and the first Habitat store, on Londonâs Fulham Road, was born. Habitat had an enormous impact. It was youthful, energetic and bursting with new products, and embraced a style of life that threw off the shackles of grey, post-war Britain.

It is widely acknowledged that the Conran influence is still felt in many British homes today. The Habitat chain is no longer owned by Conran, and the only place to by a Conran piece has been the Conran stores based in London. However, his new range, Content, will change that. Initially the furniture will be available through the Conran stores, but by autumn the range will be available from high street furniture stores and independent retailers nationwide. The new range of furniture will be more affordable too, without compromising style, quality or materials. âContentâ is designed by Conran in partnership with Christie-Tyler, Britainâs largest furniture manufacturer. The companyâs mission is to offer intelligently designed and affordable contemporary furniture in the distinctive Conran style. The look is relaxed and informal, with a hint of sensuality in the curved and shapely forms. Quality, elegance and comfort are key to the range, which includes simple beautifully made sofas and armchairs, occasional chairs and, dining tables and chairs, occasional tables, storage and shelving. Throughout, the highest quality of natural materials have been used.

The solid timbers used are broadleaf hardwoods from sustainable sources, including oak, sycamore and walnut. Natural stone also features in the range. The upholstery fabrics and leathers have been carefully chosen and the cushions throws and rugs are made from natural linens, wools, cottons and velvets. The Conran & Partners design team has worked closely with Christie-Tyler to create the range and the furniture is manufactured by Christie-Tyler using their own experienced teams of cabinet makers and upholsterers. Content is aimed to appeal to contemporary design enthusiasts of any age. The way people use their homes and they way they work and relax is evolving. Home is the heart of life. The choice of furniture and the way we use and arrange it is what turns a house into a home. And from the look of the new pieces from Conranâs collection he is certainly providing us with the means to turn our houses into individual and stylish homes that reflect our personalities and lifestyles.

losing weight with calisthenics professional liability insurance personal trainer quit smoking support site cholesteral in the eyes i cheated shouldv'e travis the beautiful occupation channel partners conference amp expo exhibitors free iq test on the web dallas texas psychic healers past life finder date your death how do lung cancer start SIR TERENCE CONRAN BLUEBIRD STORE LONDON CLUB GARAGE RESTAURANT 81st BIRTHDAY OCTOBER 2013 Itï¿½s restauranteur, designer, writer and philanthropist Sir Terence Conranï¿½s 81st birthday (4 October 2013). Last year, to commemorate his 80th, among other things, he donated ï¿½17.5m to the Design Museum, which he founded more than 30 years ago in the basement of the Victoria & Albert museum. Last week, the relocation of the Design Museum from Shad Thames to the former Commonwealth Institute on Kensington High Street began. The ambitious project will offer the museum three times the amount of floorspace of the old building and cement itï¿½s position as an international centre for design.

Blogs@independent spoke to the father of modern British design about his rather important project. You are relocating the Design Museum to Kensington and youï¿½ve commemorated the move with a time capsule. What did you put in it? I personally suggested a tin of anchovies ï¿½ one reason is I hate this business of sell-by-dates because I believe things donï¿½t really go off by the sell-by-date; anchovies can last 100 years. I remember recently having a fairly expensive tin of some by a french manufacturer, the sell-by-date was something like nine months before and it was perfectly good. So tinned anchovies and a bottle of red Burgundy 2012, I have no idea whether this year is going to be a good year, but itï¿½s a nice idea. If you could put in any food ï¿½ tinned or otherwise, what would it be? I find myself enjoying sweetcorn, mainly because you can go in, break off half a dozen pieces of sweetcorn, peel the shroud off, throw them in a pot of water for 15 minutes and eat them very easily without too much washing up.

My favourite dish is a sort of gesture that my vegetable garden is really getting going and had plenty of rainï¿½ so weï¿½ve got our peas and radishes and baby artichokes. Iï¿½m very keen on vegetable gardening, we grow a lot of flowers, too, in the vegetable garden, I like that mixture of flowers and rows of vegetables. Whatï¿½s the most important kitchen utensil for your home-grown veg? A sharp knife is, in my opinion, singularly the most important tool in a kitchen, youï¿½d be amazed how many struggle with blunt knives. I like a traditional carbon steel Sabatier, myself. Would you consider founding the Design Museum to be your greatest achievement? Well, obviously opening the new Design Museum at the commonwealth institute will have national and international importance ï¿½ weï¿½ve said by 2015 but we aim to open in 2014.

Yes, I think probably founding the Design Museum ï¿½ although everybody would say ï¿½oh, Habitatï¿½ [Conran opened the first Habitat shop in Chelsea, In 1964], but to me the Conran shops ï¿½ and what we are able to do there in a very specialised way in trying to demonstrate innovation, originality and beauty ï¿½ are my real passion. I really do believe intelligent design has a big influence on the quality of peopleï¿½s lives, and if you live in a badly-designed space it doesnï¿½t keep you very cheerful. Whatï¿½s most important to you ï¿½ affordability, functionality or attractiveness? Functionality is the most important thing. Curiously, I am writing a book about luxury at the moment, which is obviously about just having things around and demonstrating how much money youï¿½ve got. To me, just having plain simple and useful things is a sort of Fabian or quaker-like attitude. Iï¿½m doing the book with Steven Bailey and I sort of keep playing ping-pong with him over the title, but its about luxury.

One of our big things is to look at how people in the luxury industry think about luxury. Affordability is very important too, although I suspect as you go into the Conran shop you wouldnï¿½t think soï¿½ in my Habitat days it was enormously important. Thatï¿½s why I am lucky enough to have M&S as a client, and, in the USA, JC Penny. All my democratic urges are taken care of by the work that we do for them. SPENDING ALL THAT CASH IN BERKSHIRE 2011 The following is a typical weekend in the life of one of the UK's best known designers: ï¿½Saturday usually starts around 8am with fresh orange juice, muesli and tea at my home near Kintbury, west Berkshire. My mood varies with the weather. I like to sit outside drawing or writing in the morning but retreat to the conservatory or my study if itï¿½s too cool. I donï¿½t consider this as working because itï¿½s not office work or figures: designing and writing is a pleasure, not a chore, for me.

At 10am I have coffee and the dayï¿½s first cigar ï¿½ something I find very soothing. My favourite is Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No 2, which I buy direct from Hunters & Frankau. Iï¿½m writing a book with Stephen Bayley called Luxury by Design and weï¿½re finding that luxury usually means simplicity, or easy living, rather than things that cost a lot of money. Cigars come into this category. My home is a manor house, built in 1782, which I bought around 35 years ago. It was derelict but had every quality I wanted, with plenty of land, a walled garden and a river running through it. I recently made a new study in a sunny corner of the house where I do a lot of drawing ï¿½ mainly furniture, as Iï¿½m designing ranges for Marks & Spencer, Benchmark, the Conran Shop and Content by Conran. Benchmarkï¿½s factory and showroom occupy some of our old farm buildings and Iï¿½m currently giving my stepdaughter, Hattie, a hand with an upholstery and curtain-making workshop she has set up here.

Kintbury is a quarter of a mile away so I pop into Bastable Brothers, a very good butcher, to buy local beef and lamb or homemade sausages, free-range poultry and eggs. They also have terrific cheeses. My wife, Vicki, makes lunch using herbs and vegetables from the garden, and Sean Sutcliffe, Benchmarkï¿½s co-founder, and Hattie usually come over to eat. Iï¿½m passionate about burgundy so we have a bottle from our cellar where Vicki, who is a letterpress printer, keeps her press. In the afternoon we go into Hungerford and browse around a wonderful junk shop called Below Stairs. Iï¿½ve bought an amazing 1930s fan heater with louvred sides, a book press, garden tubs and ceramic pots here. Later, I go and sit by the river in our grounds. We recently had a rill put in to make the river flow faster ï¿½ the trout like that ï¿½ and the sound of rushing water is incredibly peaceful. Around 6.30pm I watch the Channel 4 news and listen to jazz or classical music.

Vicki makes supper, sometimes using fresh trout and crayfish from our river, and the evening winds down gently to bedtime at around 11pm. On Sunday morning I listen with pleasure to the bells from Kintbury but donï¿½t go to church. If the weather is good we have breakfast outside, and I read the papers there or by the wood-fired stove in my study. Then I look round the vegetable garden and greenhouses to inspect the planting and progress of seedlings. Sunday is a children and grandchildren day and we usually have some of the family over for lunch. Depending on how much wine we drink I may have a nap or do some drawing in the afternoon. I get enormous pleasure from creating a design, tackling the huge complexities of getting it made, then seeing it in its final form. Itï¿½s the same with the restaurants: I love seeing what Iï¿½ve conceived being used. One of my greatest pleasures is going to the Boundary and seeing it packed with people enjoying themselves. Sunday evening starts with a whisky and soda. I get The Conran Shop sales figures by phone at around 6.30pm, and this either puts me in a good mood or not.

Weï¿½re doing a certain amount of entertaining in connection with fund-raising for the new Design Museum so we may have guests for dinner. If not, I usually watch a bit of TV. Poirot is a favourite because of the wonderful period detail and I like watching the Grand Prix for the car designs. And so Sunday moves seamlessly into Monday morning when my secretary appears and the working week begins.ï¿½ SIR TEL'S BACKGROUND Sir Terence Conran is a designer and entrepreneur whose empire of shops and restaurants includes London's Bluebird restaurant and his eponymous Conran Shop. Conran's career is based on a belief, demonstrated particularly with the setting up of Habitat in the sixties, of the importance of good affordable design in everyday life. Fond of quoting William Morris's dictum: "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." He is the recipient of many design awards. Sir Terence has exerted a powerful influence over the way we prepare and eat our food at home, and the way we eat in public for over 40 years.

His first effort at selling food to the masses was the famous Soup Kitchen of the 1950s which was inspired, like much of his work, by French farmhouse cooking. His later mass design and retailing experiments at Habitat changed the way we viewed our kitchens and ushered in the opportunity to use well-designed, affordable and good-looking utensils. His massive restaurants of the 1990s saw a new revolution in eating out: but while some feel that Conran has democratised eating out, others complain that the popularity of his food has overpowered good traditional fare and that he has inspired a generation obsessed with style over substance. Sir Terence Conran was born in Esher 4 October 1931 and from an early age he made things, constructing model ships and yachts in a little woodworking shop. Owing to a childhood illness he spent six months away from school, passing the time making doll's house furniture. He met Don Potter his pottery teacher and pupil of Eric Gill, while he was at boarding school in Bryanston and would stay up all night and drink beer with him whilst firing up the kiln.

Sir Terence studied Textile Design at Central School of Arts and Crafts London where he was inspired by Bauhaus' intelligent design. He would often walk around London at night peering in through peoples' windows and decrying the repetitive style of living. This and his love of Bauhaus helped shape his plain, simple, useful style of design. In 1951 he worked with on projects for the Festival of Britain with Dennis Lennon. The following year he set up a furniture making business in Notting Hill, delivering furniture by the Tube. After falling in love with French food whilst on holiday in the country he set about opening his own restaurant, The Soup Kitchen, in 1953, which had the distinction of having the second espresso machine in the capital. He sold the business a few years later but didn't rest on his laurels setting up the Conan Design Group and opening the first open air restaurant, The Orrery in King's Road. As part of the regeneration of Butlers' Wharf he opened the Blue Print Cafï¿½ on the first floor of the building that now houses the Design Museum.

Then in 1964, after becoming disillusioned with retailers who refused to buy his furniture or to sell it with any confidence or imagination, he opened the first Habitat store, in Fulham Road. Mary Quant designed the staff's outfits and bought whole table settings of linen, crockery and glassware for her dinner parties. His charitable Conran Foundation set up the Boilerhouse Project, a gallery and resource for students, designers and the public to stimulate design awareness and discussion, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. CHRONOLOGY 1952 - Terence set up his own furniture-making business, which started in a basement studio in London's Notting Hill. 1956 - The Conran Design Group was founded, initially as an ancillary business to the furniture-making group. Over the next 35 years, it grew to be one of the largest design consultancies in Europe. 1964 - Terence's career in retailing began in 1964 when he opened the first Habitat on Fulham Road. Habitat was the first shop to identify its products and its image as part of a wider ethos.

1973 - With 18 branches of Habitat open in the UK and plans for the first Habitat abroad (in France), Terence opened The Conran Shop at 77 Fulham Road, the site of the original Habitat. The first French Habitat. Tour Montparnasse, 1974 - Terence Conran's The House Book was published with huge success. The book began as an in-house training manual for Habitat staff, but quickly grew to become a complete guide to planning and designing the home. 1983 - Habitat/Mothercare embarked on a joint publishing venture with Octopus Books under the name Conran Octopus. The company produces books about interior design, cookery, gardening, crafts and decorative arts, broadly reflecting Terence's design philosophy and style. Terence Conran was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's New Year's Honours. 1986 - Habitat and Mothercare merged with British Home Stores to create a new parent company, Storehouse PLC, of which Terence became Chairman and Chief Executive.

1989 - As part of the regeneration of Butlers Wharf, on the south bank of the Thames, Terence launched the Blue Print Cafï¿½ on the first floor of the building that houses the Design Museum. The Museum was the first in the world to be dedicated to the promotion and examination of design. Terence Conran retires from Storehouse and Habitat is sold. Upon his retirement from Storehouse, he bought back The Conran Shop. 1992 - Since then a number of Conran shops have been opened all over the world from Paris in October to the most recent in New York in 1999. From one of the earliest such as Le Pont de la Tour, which opened in 1991, through to the late 1990s opening of Coq d'Argent, the 90s saw the opening of more than a dozen Conran restaurants, not only in England, but also in Paris and Stockholm. 1993 - Terence formed a new design consultancy, CD Partnership, by the amalgamation of Conran Roche with a team of interior designers.

1997 - Terence opened the BLUEBIRD RESTAURANT, 350 Kings Road, SW3 5UU ( click for map ) The Bluebird Restaurant has a skylit roof running its length. The sleek, contemporary design compliments the steel frame that suspends the restaurant on the first floor overlooking the famous Kings Road. Seating up to 190 people at any one time, the restaurant can accommodate large or small group reservations. Bluebird restaurant serves modern European cuisine and specialises in seafood, some of which is prepared from the crustacea bar. W: E: hello@conran.com 1999 - Early December saw the opening of The Terence Conran Shop in New York as part of the Bridgemarket redevelopment under the 59th Street Bridge.1999 CD Partnership changes its name to Conran & Partners. 2000 - Guastavino's and Club Guastavino opened as part of the group's presence in the renovated Bridgemarket development in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Great Eastern Hotel opened, a joint venture between Conran and Wyndham International.

Following the success of the current restaurants in London, Zic Bar & Grill opens in Manchester. 2001 - Conran Restaurants opens a Zinc Bar & Grill in both Birmingham and Edinburgh. Terrence Conran Q&A is published to celebrate his 70th birthday. Almeida restuarant and bar opens, bringing delicious, robust French food to Islington. 2002 - A new Conran Shop opens in Marunouchi, Japan , reflecting the same passion for elegance, modern furniture and home accessories as the London stores. Senso restaurant opens in Paris. Zinc Bar & Grill opens is Fulham 2003 - Future projects include two new restaurants in London: The Royal Exchange building and Canary Wharf. Also, Zinc Bar & Grill opens in Glasgow. 100 % norske i London Midt pï¿½ supertrendy Hoxton Square gir Norge sitt elegante bidrag til Londons internasjonale designuke. - Renhet, integritet og ï¿½rlighet beskriver det jeg ser her, sa den britiske designerguruen Sir Terence Conran da han ï¿½pnet 100% Norway.

Det er ikke hvem som helst som fï¿½r legenden Terence Conran til ï¿½ kaste glans. Briten regnes som en av verdens stï¿½rste nï¿½levende designere, og har skrevet en rekke bï¿½ker om design. I tillegg eier han en kjede av mï¿½belforretninger og restauranter. Det er ingen tilfeldighet at Conran identifiserer seg med norsk design. Han hentet selv mye inspirasjon fra Skandinavia pï¿½ 1950- og 60-tallet. Akkurat nï¿½ fï¿½ler jeg at det er en innovativ holdning i Skandinavia, og spesielt Norge, sa Conran til Aftenposten etter ï¿½pningen. Jeg ser en renhet i uttrykket, en antikynisk holdning.

Jeg kan ï¿½yeblikkelig se at dette er norsk, og jeg har et godt nok trenet ï¿½ye til ï¿½ se forskjellene pï¿½ svensk, norsk og dansk design. Den skandinaviske flyten er viktig, den generelle kraften i det dere gjï¿½r. CONRAN HOLDINGS Conran Holdings is the parent company of the Conran group, the principal activities of which are architecture and design, and the operation of restaurants, shops and hotels in Europe , the USA and Japan. CONRAN RESTAURANTS Founded by Terence Conran in 1991, Conran Restaurants Ltd is one of Britain's most dynamic restaurant groups. There are currently 30 restaurants established throughout the UK, London, Paris, Stockholm and New York. THE CONRAN SHOP Since opening in 1973 at 77 Fulham Road The Conran Shop has grown to ten international stores located in London, Paris , New York , Tokyo and Fukuoka. The Conran Shop represents a vast selection of all different types of homeware products, traditional as well as contemporary.

CONRAN and PARTNERS Conran & Partners is a multi-disciplinary architecture and design practice offering expertise in the fields of master planning, architecture, interior design, product design and graphic design. If you require further information and detail on any of the Conran businesses, please contact the relevant people: Terence Conran Ltd: How Habitat revamped Britain's homes - BBC News BBC News How Habitat revamped Britain's homes By Marie Jackson BBC News 25 June 2011 Close share panel Image caption Habitat's use of sales space and good design sparked a host of copycat stores In the post-war years, three-piece suites and heavy, dark cabinets were squeezed into Britain's living rooms, and bedrooms were decked out in prim chintz. But, a makeover was to get under way in the middle of the Swinging Sixties, when a young furniture designer called Terence Conran brought colour, smooth lines and contemporary design into Britain's homes. Conran had been struggling to get his designs into shops so, in 1964, he opened his own store in an unfashionable stretch of Fulham Road in west London. Habitat, with its whitewashed walls and high ceilings, brought something new to the High Street.

Happy Habitat customers found it to be true that your life can be enhanced by having a better teapot Stephen Bayley, Design critic Products were displayed in mocked-up living rooms and kitchens, giving customers ideas how to piece together furniture, lighting, vases and mirrors. They were affordable, contemporary designs, which educated young professionals lapped up. In a 2009 interview for BBC Four's Designing the Decades, Sir Terence Conran said it had been more than just a furniture shop. "It was furniture, and china and glass, and kitchen. All the things but with a certain look. "It had a philosophy. It had abundance in it. It was like a sort of market place. It was a buzzy shop." The buzz drew hordes of shoppers, and it was not long before Habitat became a British institution. Design critic Stephen Bayley said during Habitat's best years - which he believes were from 1964 to 1990 - the shop was inseparable from Sir Terence's personality. Image caption Sir Terence brought his personality to the High Street, and a cameo role in Absolutely Fabulous "Conran wanted to bring an element of optimism, cheerfulness to the British High Street and he succeeded in that.

"Conran found it to be true, and happy Habitat customers found it to be true, that your life can be enhanced by having a better teapot." And not just teapots, there were salad bowls, beanbags and cheap storage jars for pasta, just as the British were developing an appetite for dried pasta. Stores soon started opening up across Europe, in France, Spain and Germany. In the 1980s, the company merged first with Mothercare, and then British Home Stores. But Habitat was to fall victim to its own success. Having persuaded British shoppers that good design was affordable for all, many shops copied the idea and priced Habitat out of the market. Of course I'm sad that my love child, Habitat, appears to be dying Sir Terence Conran Among them was Sweden's Ikea, sellers of flat-pack stylised furniture from giant out-of-town stores at a fraction of Habitat's prices. In 1992, Habitat was bought by the Ikano Group, the company founded by the Kamprad family, owners of Ikea. But Habitat stores struggled, and faced criticism for poor customer service and over-pricing. In 2007-8, Habitat lost more than £13.4m.

A year later, private equity group Hilco bought the debt-laden chain. On Friday, it was announced that all but three of Habitat's UK stores are being put into administration. The brand will survive as will the three London stores bought by Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, for £24.5m in cash. After 47 years of Habitat, there was understandably some sorrow for Conran. "Of course I'm sad that my love child, Habitat, appears to be dying. "But I am more interested in the future of my own business and design projects - that is my focus." For Stephen Bayley, it had been an "extraordinarily interesting and very brave experiment in manipulating popular taste", and one that made it difficult to remember our homes and our lives before it.

Question: In 1964, Terence Conran opened his first of which chain of shops in Fulham Road, London?
Answer: Habitat